VIDEO: Rocoto Love (8c+) at Tajgrapata (4000m), Iquique, Chile

Big thanks to Rodrigo for the invitation to the Northern Chile’s Climbing Festival at the end of June when we bolted this nice new high end line on the perfect volcanic rock of this huge stone forest. On both sides of the road to Bolivia there are some 60 routes established and another 1000 to open on walls up to almost 100m high. In addition you can visit the two magnificent National Parks of Lauca and Isluga not far away with one of the most magic places I’ve seen in my life.

I could send Rocoto Love (a tribute to the best chilli pepper in the world) in the 12th try (and for filming in the 13th again 😉 after five days in the route. The very physique style demands even more than in the 3600m high Socaire a proper breathing technique on the rest points and some final explosiveness in the upper crux. Come with a not to rough rope, the drag on the last easy meters can be hard.